A key part of the Royals’ summer transfer business was always going to be bringing in a new number 10, and that’s now been done with the addition of Josh Stokes. Reading have announced the season-long loan signing of the 22-year-old from Championship club Bristol City.
He’s Reading’s fourth addition of a summer transfer window that’s been gathering pace in recent weeks. Following the arrival of Kyreece Lisbie, in came versatile defender Udoka Godwin-Malife and experienced forward Jacob Brown.
You can
see a trend there: Reading bringing in energetic, younger talent (excluding Brown). That’s consistent with some of the January business (fellow former Bristol City player Haydon Roberts and Benn Ward.
Leam Richardson said:
“We’re really pleased to bring Josh to Reading. He’s a player we’ve followed for some time and one we believe has the qualities to make a real impact for us.
“He’s creative, positive in possession and has the ability to unlock defences, whether that’s with a pass, by carrying the ball or by contributing goals himself. He’s already shown what he can do in League One and at 22, we feel there’s still plenty more to come from him.
“Just as importantly, he’s got a fantastic attitude. He wants to improve, he’s hungry to work every day and he’s fully bought into what we’re trying to build here. We’re looking forward to working with him and helping him take the next steps in his career.”
What’s Stokes’ story so far?
Although he’s still young, Stokes has a reasonable amount of first-team experience (over 100 games). That’s a big takeaway for me: he’s not merely a raw talent – he’s already very much used to men’s football.
After youth spells at Ipswich Town and AFC Sudbury, he broke through at professional level with National League side Aldershot Town. Stokes enjoyed an electric 2023/24, registering 15 goals and eight assists in 45 league appearances – enough to earn him a permanent move to Bristol City midway through that campaign (though they loaned him back to his former club for the remainder of the season).
Then came a brace of loan moves to the third tier. First up, Stokes scored seven in 32 with Cambridge United in 2024/25. Though that was a poor season for his club, relegated to the fourth tier, it was a good one for Stokes individually, winning Cambridge’s player of the season and young player of the season awards.
The 2025/26 campaign was more mixed. It started with a new contract being signed in June (lasting until 2028) and he did manage two League Cup appearances, but a broken metatarsal otherwise wrecked the first half of the season.
In the second half however came his second loan move to League One, this time with Stockport County. He netted five times in 26 appearances (league, playoffs and EFL Trophy), with Stockport enjoying a much stronger season than Cambridge – beaten by Bolton Wanderers in the playoff final.
What kind of player is he?
The Aldershot Town FC Supporters Club gave the following summary, via Cambridge fan outlet Under the Abbey Stand:
“He has superb passing ability, often intricate with an ability to split a defence. He’s strong on the ball for a relatively small player and really uses his body well to shield the ball and turn defenders. He’s confident and comfortable in possession and not afraid to take the ball in all areas of the pitch.”
While Matt Ramsay, who covers Cambridge, said last summer:
“He is the kind of player who doesn’t like to float in and out of games. He is always visibly demanding the ball, whether he’s dropping deep to collect it and set new attacks going, getting into positions to provide chances for forwards or arriving in dangerous positions himself to get on the end of opportunities.”
And Stockport writer Sam Byrne had similar thoughts:
“Stockport had a gaping hole in that ’10’ role before Stokes joined, so talking specifically to The Hatters, he’s been a huge asset in linking midfield and attack, arriving late in the box and getting on beyond the deeper midfielders.
“These are all things that we had seen during his spells at previous clubs, and it has been good to see that his skillset as an attacking midfielder has continued and evolved since those spells elsewhere.”
So Stokes is certainly a creative outlet – a direct replacement for Kamari Doyle then, who generally was the man to fill the number 10 role in Reading’s 4-2-3-1 last season. All in all, Stokes looks like a smart addition for the Royals’ attack.
I’d like Reading ideally to now recruit some cover for Stokes, in case of injury, but it’s great to have the starting XI now pretty much sorted.
